Royal wedding cakes through the years

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March 20, 2018

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle: Lemon Elderflower Cake

Every new detail revealed about Prince Harry and Meghan's upcoming nuptials throws fans into a tizzy of excitement, and the couple’s wedding cake is no exception! Kensington Palace took to Twitter on Mar. 20 to reveal the baker behind the traditional confection: "For their wedding cake Prince Harry and Ms. Meghan Markle have chosen pastry chef Claire Ptak, owner of the London-based bakery @violetcakes. Prince Harry and Ms. Markle have asked Claire to create a lemon elderflower cake that will incorporate the bright flavours of spring. It will be covered with buttercream and decorated with fresh flowers."

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have perfected the art of straddling the line between tradition and modernity, and their wedding cakes are no different (yes, they had two for their 2011 nuptials!). The first was a fruit cake by Leicestershire baker Fiona Cairns, a majestic eight-tiered confection that featured the “language of flowers” and took a whopping five weeks to make thanks to its 900 sugar flowers. The top two tiers were served at Prince George and Princess Charlotte’s christenings.

William’s childhood factored into their second cake, made by McVities using a Buckingham Palace recipe. The unbaked chocolate biscuit cake featured broken-up Rich Tea biscuits, dark chocolate and a few secret ingredients!

Nothing about the Queen's wedding was understated, especially the cake. Tipping the scales at 500 pounds, the nine-foot fruitcake was intricately decorated by McVitie and Price. Its four tiers were made from Australian Girl Guides ingredients and, naturally, Prince Philip cut the cake using his sword. Australia received a layer in the mail as a thank you and another tier was saved for Prince Charles’s christening.

Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips: Iced to Perfection

This isn’t your typical mess hall fare! When the Queen’s daughter wed the military captain in 1973, they enlisted the Army Catering Corps to create a spectacular confection. Reaching up to the sky, the heavily iced cake was supported on pretty silver tiers. This image shows Sergeant Major David Dodd putting the finishing touches on the cake.

Prince Rainier III of Monaco and Grace Kelly: Bird Cage

Regarded as the wedding of the century, former actress Grace Kelly's big day was definitely fit for a princess! So when tasked with creating a cake fit for royalty, the pastry chefs at Monte-Carlo's famed Hôtel de Paris definitely went above and beyond. The top two tiers of the spectacular creation held a pair of live turtledoves, which were released when the newlyweds used Prince Rainier’s sword to cut the cake. There were also revolving figurines of the bride and groom that played “Wedding March” and “Ave Maria.”

Prince Albert of Monaco and Charlene Wittstock: Strawberries and Flowers

A whopping 50 kilos of strawberries went into the massive, seven-tier cake served to guests at Albert and Charlene’s wedding, a VIP-laden affair for which the couple spared no expense. The fruity dessert featured shooting stars and fresh flowers, including Proteas – the national bloom of South Africa to pay tribute to the bride’s roots.

Prince Charles and Diana Spencer: Architectural and Artistic

Prince William and Harry’s mom had a wedding cake that was almost as tall as she was! When Lady Diana Spencer said “I do” to the Prince of Wales in 1981, they couple turned to the Royal Navy’s Cookery school (chef David Avery poses in the photo) for their five-foot, 255-pound pastry. The magnificent creation had an architectural vibe with facets showing meaningful icons like the family’s coat of arms and the couple’s initials. Fresh flowers provided the finishing touch.

Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon: Three Is The Magic Number

Before Princess Diana went for architectural panels, Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon had a hexagonal cake that stood at five feet and 150 pounds. Rather than a smattering of thin layers, the couple opted for three solid structures – each decorated with the princess’s coat of arms and the couple’s new monogram. Cascading flowers fell around the top layer.

Prince Haakon of Norway and Mette-Marit: White Chocolate Fruitcake

A Viking ship was the inspiration for the couple’s seven-layer wedding cake, a white chocolate delicacy festooned with dragons. While the vessel housed in an Oslo museum was a decidedly Norwegian inspiration, the flavours themselves were traditionally English – a spiced bottom filled with raisins and fruits. It was a gift from Norwegian cake makers.

The couple’s confection takes the cake for unconventionality, from its artistic presentation – multiple tiers each on its own stand with lights and swirling silver stands – to the inclusion of Pop Rocks in the batter as a surprise for guests. The base flavours of the cake created by pastry chef Roy Fares were a blend of strawberry, rhubarb and pistachio.

Princess Victoria of Sweden and Daniel Westling: Luck of the Irish

Her sister Princess Madeleine opted for a giant pyramid of macarons (700 to be exact) in lieu of a cake, but Victoria and Daniel were gifted a show-stopping confection by Sweden’s Association of Bakers & Confectioners for their 2010 nuptials. Featuring 11 tiers and weighing in at 550 pounds, each layer was shaped like a four-leaf clover to offer the newlyweds good luck.

Prince Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands and Maxima Zorreguieta: Everything Was Rosy

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert: Iced and Influential

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert's 300-pound show-stopper is widely regarded as having changed the royal wedding game, as cakes weren't formerly a prominent feature at weddings. The two-tier mammoth served in 1840 was slathered in white icing and decorated with miniature versions of the bride and groom dressed in Greek costumed being blessed by a figurine of Britannia.